Faith & Values

Title: Co-pastor with husband Steve at Metro Life Church, Doral, with average weekend attendance of 500-600.

Other experience: Singer on album When Women Worship; co-founder of Metro's Mercy House, a shelter for troubled girls between 11 and 18.

Awards: Nominated for Stellar Award for When Women Worship, in Best Special Event CD of the Year.

Personal: Age 39. Born in Lakeland.

Family: Children: Christopher, 16; Stephanie, 11; Lauren, 9; Gabi, 8.

Q. A pastor's wife usually has no shortage of things to do. How did you get into music?

A. I'm a third-generation pastor's daughter, and if your husband is a pastor, you naturally take a musical role.

Q. What does When Women Worship mean? Do women worship differently than men?

A. I think they do. We wear emotions closer to the surface. Women carry a relational thread a lot thicker than men.

Q. Why did you want to start a girls' home?

A. When I was a little girl, we had a family member who molested all us girls. And my husband had a college friend who had an abortion and was miserable over it. A few months later, she was married and pregnant again, and had a brain tumor. And she could have had another abortion, but she gave her life to let the child live. That made a mark in his life, and the drive to found the home.

Q. The home is said to treat high-risk behaviors. Like what?

A. Like cutting themselves, constantly tattooing themselves, running off with the wrong men. But we don't take them against their own will. We take them only if they say, "I'm at end of my rope."

Q. How did you get the expertise to treat them?

A. We hire people trained in psychology, and trained to deal with different aspects of the girls' behavior.

A. We have a condo in Stuart. I love it there. The whole atmosphere is quiet. You can get away from the rat race of Miami.

Q. Favorite TV shows?

A. I'm an Office nut. It's just the dumbest show on TV (laughs). I don't have to use my brain on it. It's just simple humor.

Q. If you could ask God one question, what would it be?

A. I'd ask how he deals with all the rejection. I always remind myself that when people reject the gospel, it's not me, but God they're rejecting. How does he feel?

Q. Your worst moment in the pulpit?

A. I was at a small church, and a lady had a whistle. She blew it the entire time I sang - loud, like on a soccer field. And nobody stopped her.

Q. Any advice you'd give for others considering the vocation?

A. The ministry is not an hourly job, where you clock in and out. It's your life. It grows out of who you are, not what you do. If you're not wrapped up in Christ, it's just a job for you, and you'll be miserable.

Q. What one thing would you change about yourself?

A. I'd probably be a little more confident, in my parenting skills and in dealing with people one on one. I second-guess myself all the time.

Q. What's the most important thing you've ever learned?

A. All authority comes from the Father, not from man-made, self-appointed authorities. Bosses, husbands, pastors, we are all under authority. That's a safe place to be.

Q. What person in history would you like most to meet?

A. Probably Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I look at his life and what he was willing to do. And I think of the things we're supposed to stand up for today, and we don't. He didn't just have a dream; he took it to the streets. And we don't do that anymore.

Q. When things get you down, how do you reconnect with the spirit?

A. I go back to the piano and basic worship time. When I'm singing, and thinking about all God has done for me, it'll always pull me out of a difficult time.

Q. Motto, or favorite scripture verse?

A. "To whom much is given, much will be required."

- JAMES D. DAVIS

Do you know someone we should profile? Tell Religion Editor James D. Davis at 954-356-4730 or jdavis@sun-sentinel.com.

CALENDAR

Compiled by James D. Davis

A Swedish feast with the Queen of Light

The Feast of Santa Lucia, a Swedish festival for the Christmas season, will be celebrated between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. today at First United Methodist Church of Boca Raton, 625 NE Mizner Blvd.

The day will include a bazaar with ornaments, handicrafts and Swedish foods; a children's procession in white robes, singing Christmas songs.

At 3 p.m., Michelle Akerstrom, 16, of Fort Lauderdale, appears as Santa Lucia, the Queen of Light, wearing a white gown and a crown of lingonberry leaves and candles. She will sing traditional Swedish and American carols and hymns.

Santa Lucia, usually celebrated on Dec. 13, is based on a legend of a Christian girl who brought light to Sweden from the Roman Empire. The local festival is ponsored by the South Florida chapter of the Swedish Women's Educational Association, which has 250 members from Jupiter to Miami.